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Iconoclash: Traversing the Sacred
A visual art exhibition, featuring the work of
Emma M. Churchman and Dawn K. Dreyer
On display in the Barn at Pendle Hill from April 20 - July 11, 2008.
Artist Reception: 3 – 5 p.m. , Saturday, May 3, 2008
Iconoclash*: Traversing the Sacred is a full-immersion exploration of sacred art forms, using the crucifix and the belly as icons. Artists Emma M. Churchman and Dawn K. Dreyer take an interdisciplinary approach to their work that simultaneously honors and interrogates cultural and religious traditions. Both artists create their work using processes dedicated to deepening their own spiritual awareness.
Emma M. Churchman recently developed the series of crucifixes for this exhibition titled inviting communion: reclaiming our broken world. In her work Churchman asks, what would happen if we laid the sins of the world on the cross? Her pieces explore such topics as the effects of global warming, the war on terror, mass killings, and diamond mining in Sierra Leone . She invites viewers to consider their own relationship to tragedies happening in our world today, and suggests that each of us is responsible for creating the world we want to live in. Her medium of the crucifix challenges us to see the possibility of death, resurrection and rebirth in our own life choices.
Emma Churchman is a Philadelphia based interdisciplinary artist who integrates a variety of visual mediums with the written word, producing what she calls mosaic poetry. She identifies herself as a Quaker healer, minister, mystic, writer, artist, clairvoyant and shaman. She created the series of crucifixes in this exhibition while at Pendle Hill, where she resides for the 2007-2008 year as the Minnie Jane Artist-in-Residence. The poems included in these pieces are her own.
Dawn K. Dreyer was inspired to begin her work on body imperfect|body divine: the belly project by the biblical story of Elizabeth , pregnant with John the Baptist, and Mary, carrying Jesus. Upon Mary’s greeting, “the child leaped in [ Elizabeth ’s] womb,” and she “was filled with the Holy Spirit.” In her work, Dreyer explores this connection between the two women as emblematic of the holy spark that ignites when the spirit in the belly leaps for joy at the recognition of a kindred spirit in another.
The belly sculptures range in size, texture, and design; participants span a range of age and cultural backgrounds, including a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy, and an eight-seven year old woman. The exhibit also includes excerpts from interviews with the participants, clay tablets inscribed with textual reflections on the work, and several casts of Dreyer’s own belly. the belly project is also a personal exploration around Dreyer’s faith, her identity as an artist, and her own tumultuous relationship with her body.
Dawn Dreyer is a community-based, mixed media, conceptual artist/activist. As a teacher, curator, and artist, she has collaborated with individuals and communities and around issues including mental illness, poverty, and addiction; neighborhood quality of life; Hurricane Katrina; and September 11. Dawn’s creative work is grounded in her radical faith and her passion for social justice. Approaches to her creative projects include audio documentary, installation art, performance, photography, writing, and video. Body Imperfect|Body Divine: The Belly Project is her first exploration in clay sculpture. Currently a student in Pendle Hill’s resident program, Dawn’s home is in Durham , NC .
For travel directions to Pendle Hill
Iconoclash noun 1a full-immersion exploration of sacred art forms 2an interdisciplinary approach to art that simultaneously honors and interrogates cultural and religious icons 3an artistic process dedicated to deepening spiritual awareness 4an eighties heavy-metal hair band featuring Emma Churchman on bass and Dawn Dreyer rockin’ the drums (no, not really, wouldn’t that be so cool?) .
